Thank you so much for your kind comments. Even thought the whole thing was a bit of a shambles, I've bounced back and feel happily back to my usual self. I also have some amazing things to feel grateful for:
1) On the 6th November (my birthday) Star Trek Girl and I are driving to Amsterdam to spend three days drinking good coffee and wine, eating nice food, wandering the canal-sides, looking at art and admiring clogs.
I usually go to Italy but my friend has never been to Amsterdam, is half French so used to driving on the other side of the road, speaks six languages, and I haven't been since I went for a boyfriend's birthday around 15 years ago. We've booked a lovely little apartment through Air BnB that comes with two bicycles and is right near the museum district. It's going to be great!
2) My American client has just renewed the contract on my flat so I have at least another year being able to live by myself in my gorgeous, bright, happy little home.
3) I've just had a bumper month work-wise. I'm making around £300 per month in passive income through download sales which I aim to take up to £1000 within a year. I have lots of interesting, satisfying work and I'm still able to work completely virtually.
4) The last time I took my little cat Treacle to the vets for a check up, they said her heart murmur was a lot less severe than they had initially thought and that it might've just sounded louder because she was stressed. So she's pretty much fine.
5) Two books of beautiful poetry arrived through my door today. Winter is coming and it always makes me want to read poetry and ghost stories for some reason. A Scottish friend often posts poems up on Facebook and, after a particularly gorgeous poem the other day (Infinity by Giacomo Leopardi) I asked him to recommended some books and I ended up buying The Bees and Love Poems by the Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy.
6) I'm dating someone new. I decided to go back on the dating site for a month and have been on four dates with a guy called Peter. I wasn't sure if he was 'romantically interested' so I asked him on our fourth date last night if he was (we're all busy here pal) and he said he was interested but that he was a bit shy when it came to these things. He also finished a five year relationship at the end of last year and I think he's a bit out of practice!
I don't feel any urgency, but dating has certainly cheered me up and restored my knocked confidence - which was the point.
7) I've been planning another trip away. I've mentioned this before, but I'd really love to go on a three-day winter break on the island of Sark. It's a Dark Skies island and I want to take a good book, go on some brisk clifftop walks, then cosy up with a brandy and read in front of an open fire. How lovely does that sound?
8) A friend is coming up from Cornwall today, another friend from London is joining us and we're going out for sangria and dinner at a Spanish tapas bar before heading to a Mogwai gig in town. My Cornish friend is doing some work for them so we're all on the guest list.
9) I went to my first Star Trek Convention the other week. It was brilliant to be around other nerds, to see people just wandering around in Starfleet uniforms and to not feel awkward discussing the common ancestry of Vulcans and Romulins! I loved it.
10) After I got dumped by email and had a horrendous eye infection that left me taking a five-day, four-a-day course of hardcore antibiotics, a friend sent me a lovely card from Devon saying how wonderful I was, my best friend came through as she always does and was an incredible source of support, another friend came over with paleo cherry and chocolate scones, my cousin called me to see if I was ok and another two friends came over to cheer me up.
So actually I have a pretty good life, things are pretty peachy and I did not let that bloody loser get me down!
